Music ranking techniques evaluated

In a music retrieval system, a user presents a piece of music as a query and the system must identify from a corpus of performances other pieces with a similar melody. Several techniques have been proposed for matching such queries to stored music. In previous work, we found that local alignment, a technique derived from bioinformatics, was more effective than the n-gram methods derived from information retrieval; other researchers have reported success with n-grams, but have not compared against local alignment. In this paper we explore a broader range of n-gram techniques, and test them with both manual queries and queries automatically extracted from MIDI files. Our experiments show that n-gram matching techniques can be as effective as local alignment; one highly effective technique is to simply count the number of n-grams in common between the query and the stored piece of music. N-grams are particularly effective for short queries and manual queries, while local alignment is superior for automatic queries

Neutron spectral measurements in the upper atmosphere

An experiment to measure neutrons in the upper atmosphere was performed on a balloon flight from Palestine, Texas, at an altitude of about 32 km. The experimental arrangement is discussed briefly, and results of a preliminary analysis of the data for neutrons in the energy range 3 to 30 MeV are given

Absolute differential cross sections for electron-impact excitation of CO near threshold: II. The Rydberg states of CO

Absolute differential cross sections for electron-impact excitation of Rydberg states of CO have been measured from threshold to 3.7 eV above threshold and for scattering angles between 20° and 140°. Measured excitation functions for the b 3Σ+, B 1Σ+ and E 1π states are compared with cross sections calculated by the Schwinger multichannel method. The behaviour of the excitation functions for these states and for the j 3Σ+ and C 1Σ+ states is analysed in terms of negative-ion states. One of these resonances has not been previously reported

Geographic Variation in Wood Properties of Pinus Tecunumanii

Wood properties of Pinus tecunumanii were studied on 108 trees collected from four different departments of Guatemala (Baja Verapaz, Zacapa, Totonicapán, and El Quiché). Unextracted and extracted specific gravities were calculated from 108 Cores (one per tree) of 4.5 mm diameter. The specific gravity varied from 0.51 to 0.56 with a weak decreasing trend from east to west. Most of the extractives were found in the core segment closest to the pith. Tracheid measurements were recorded on 11-mm cores from Baja Verapaz and Zacapa with tracheid length, cell-wall thickness, lumen width, and tracheid diameter being recorded. With the exception of tracheid length, all the measured cell characteristics showed highly statistical differences between locations and among trees. Most of the variation was within and between trees. Tracheid diameter and lumen width were highly correlated. The wood of the Tecun Umán pine showed extreme variability, especially in tracheid dimensions. Overall, however, the wood of this species is quite usable for both solid wood and pulp products

‘Comme si c’etait Chez Moi’: Joseph Zobel a Paris a Travers Ses Lettres (As If I Were at Home: Joseph Zobel Letters from Paris)

Jenny Zobel, fille de l’écrivain martiniquais Joseph Zobel, et Emily Zobel Marshall, petite-fille de Joseph Zobel, ont découvert récemment des manuscrits inédits de leur père et grand-père. Il s’agit, d’une part, d’une collection de lettres envoyées par Joseph en 1946-1947 depuis Paris à sa femme et à son ami martiniquais Valbrun Apat, et, d’autre part, d’extraits de son journal intime des années 1940. Elles nous proposent une analyse qui répondrait à la question « Qu’apporte la lecture de ces manuscrits à l’étude des œuvres de Joseph Zobel ? »

Executive Search Consultants' Biases Against Women (or Men?)

Women remain under-represented in leadership positions in many countries. Since executive search consultants (also known as headhunters) act as gatekeepers in the hiring process, headhunters' biases might influence the female under-representation. There is preliminary evidence that suggests headhunters favor men, but direct evidence is missing. Thus, this study directly tested this assumption using implicit and explicit measures (an implicit association test and a gender role attitudes survey), completed by 123 German executive search consultants. Although neither measure showed an anti-women bias (with the explicit measure being compared to a match sample from a representative survey using propensity score matching), the implicit association test showed an in-group bias (i.e., male headhunter had a stronger association of men and competence than of women and competence). The latter is worrisome because the majority of consultants in this business are men. Thus, organizations interested in more female managers need to carefully consider who they hire as their executive search consultants

Executive Search Consultants' Biases Against Women (or Men?)

Women remain under-represented in leadership positions in many countries. Since executive search consultants (also known as headhunters) act as gatekeepers in the hiring process, headhunters' biases might influence the female under-representation. There is preliminary evidence that suggests headhunters favor men, but direct evidence is missing. Thus, this study directly tested this assumption using implicit and explicit measures (an implicit association test and a gender role attitudes survey), completed by 123 German executive search consultants. Although neither measure showed an anti-women bias (with the explicit measure being compared to a match sample from a representative survey using propensity score matching), the implicit association test showed an in-group bias (i.e., male headhunter had a stronger association of men and competence than of women and competence). The latter is worrisome because the majority of consultants in this business are men. Thus, organizations interested in more female managers need to carefully consider who they hire as their executive search consultants

Evolution of the Illegal Substances Market and Substance Users' Social Situation and Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken for tackling it had the potential to lead to deep modifications in the supply of illegal drugs and to impact substance users' health and social situation. To investigate this, we used mixed methods, i.e., quantitative data collected with a brief questionnaire from substance users receiving opioid agonist treatment in a treatment centre in Switzerland (N = 49), and qualitative data obtained using semi-structured phone interviews among a sub-group of participants (N = 17). We repeated data collection twice over four weeks to investigate trends over time (N = 51 and 14 at wave 2). Findings consistently showed the limited impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the illegal substance market. Over the two waves, the supply, price and purity of three main illegal substances did not significantly vary. Substance use was estimated as usual by most, trending toward a decrease. The impact of the pandemic on participants' social situation and health was appraised as low to medium. Nevertheless, a minority of participants reported higher impact and multivariate analyses showed a more important impact for those who were female, younger, and not using multiple substances. This process was implemented quickly and provided an understanding of the short-term impact of the pandemic on drug markets and users